in that kind of environment, i think it's very, very difficult to wrestle with or more me protry to predict what may or may not happen in the middle east but it seems pretty clear the obama administration is moving more towards a strategy and tactics, a smaller footprint in the middle east, right, less intervention oriented and more strategic. if you look at the selections for his defense team, he's interested in prosecuting the war on terror in a very different way. at the end of the day, i hope the middle east works some of its issues out without a lot of u.s. intervention, but we can't predict what may or may not happen in the next four years in that region of the world. >> interesting because robert gibbs echos the sentiments james is sharing with regard to the time this president has. and robert says a year and a half at best to get something actually accomplished. it's sort of a myth when a president is re-elected. four more years. you hear the chants of people. not so much. >> two max i would think. >> i think probably the biggest potential disaster would be a terrorist attack in thi